Too soon?  Too many truly painful Grey Cup losses have taken the sting out of yesterday's loss already.

Time to look forward while we cope with the recent disappointment.  

Who do we keep?  Who do we let go?  Who do we go after?

Someone was going to start this thread at some point.

7 minutes ago, Brandon said:

I think it's more of a case of the pure football fan aging out.   The NFL is also experiencing this. 

Thankfully the gameday atmosphere has made it a much more appealing outing for the younger crowds.   

Good points,i would add immigration has affected the CFL as well when you look at the popularity of Soccer here in Canada now. No slag intended just that Soccer is THE sport outside of North America.

2 hours ago, blue_gold_84 said:

Do you have figures to back up this claim? The data on CFLdb doesn't show any correlation between games being televised since 1987 and attendance dropping, dramatically or otherwise.

https://stats.cfldb.ca/league/cfl/attendance/

The page you shared shows a peak in the mid-90’s as far as I can see.

3 hours ago, bb1 said:

Good points,i would add immigration has affected the CFL as well when you look at the popularity of Soccer here in Canada now. No slag intended just that Soccer is THE sport outside of North America.

if I could kick myself in the junk....or watch a soccer match....game.....whatever they called...I'd take kick myself in the junk...do not see the fascination of such a boring sport....

14 minutes ago, Booch said:

if I could kick myself in the junk...

You'd be double-jointed?

14 minutes ago, Booch said:

if I could kick myself in the junk....or watch a soccer match....game.....whatever they called...I'd take kick myself in the junk...do not see the fascination of such a boring sport....

 

What the Bombers have done outside of winning is make going to games an event. They have a lot of activities and things for families, young adults, and everyone in between. What they have done pre-game lower the cost of concessions and beer has made it economically friends. I know was at the arena couple of weeks ago and got a hot dog and drink and it was $16 bucks. For that, I could have got a drink and 3 hot dogs at the stadium. 

42 minutes ago, Booch said:

if I could kick myself in the junk....or watch a soccer match....game.....whatever they called...I'd take kick myself in the junk...do not see the fascination of such a boring sport....

the pre-game tailgate at the stadium is a lot of fun. Our pre-game usually starts at Stone Angel for GOOD beer, but we always end up at the tailgate area for at least a half hour before we head in to our seats. It really is a great time every time at the ol' barn (and the winning doesn't hurt, either...)

40 minutes ago, Geebrr said:

gotta have heavy balls after that one....and be looking for a large sling.....ouch

1 hour ago, Stickem said:

gotta have heavy balls after that one....and be looking for a large sling.....ouch

True.

But football in the groin has a football in the groin. 

3 hours ago, Booch said:

if I could kick myself in the junk....or watch a soccer match....game.....whatever they called...I'd take kick myself in the junk...do not see the fascination of such a boring sport....

7 hours ago, Brandon said:

I think it's more of a case of the pure football fan aging out.   The NFL is also experiencing this. 

Thankfully the gameday atmosphere has made it a much more appealing outing for the younger crowds.   

Think the demograph of football fans is predominantly older white males.

9 hours ago, blue_gold_84 said:

Do you have figures to back up this claim? The data on CFLdb doesn't show any correlation between games being televised since 1987 and attendance dropping, dramatically or otherwise.

https://stats.cfldb.ca/league/cfl/attendance/

I don't need figures. I see it when I watch the games on TSN with the tens of thousands of empty seats. Why come to the games & pay high ticket, concessions & parking prices to go to a game when fans can watch on television? 

 

16 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

I don't need figures. I see it when I watch the games on TSN with the tens of thousands of empty seats. Why come to the games & pay high ticket, concessions & parking prices to go to a game when fans can watch on television? 

 

For the atmosphere and the chance to get caught up in the gameday emotional avalanche of ecstasies and agonies.

4 hours ago, Jpan85 said:

What the Bombers have done outside of winning is make going to games an event. They have a lot of activities and things for families, young adults, and everyone in between. What they have done pre-game lower the cost of concessions and beer has made it economically friends. I know was at the arena couple of weeks ago and got a hot dog and drink and it was $16 bucks. For that, I could have got a drink and 3 hot dogs at the stadium. 

The Stamps owners do nothing. Absolutely nothing. The game experience sucks in a 63 year old building.

9 minutes ago, Tracker said:

For the atmosphere and the chance to get caught up in the gameday emotional avalanche of ecstasies and agonies.

Not when a family of 4 would cost over $200 for a game. Disposable income is at an all time low

Edited March 28, 20232 yr by SpeedFlex27

7 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

The Stamps owners do nothing. Absolutely nothing. The game experience sucks in a 63 year old building.

Not when a family of 4 would cost over $200 for a game.

Not bad for a family of 4. 

Atmosphere at a live game is way better than tv. 

2 minutes ago, bryan35 said:

Not bad for a family of 4. 

Atmosphere at a live game is way better than tv. 

Not bad?? I disagree. I wouldn;t pay $90 a ticket to sit on the 35 or 40 yard line at McMahon. And what if I don't want to sit in the Family Section? I'll just watch on tv at home. Not everyone wants season tickets. 

Season tickets pay the bills. 
 

Id get them even if I didn’t live here.

3 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

I don't need figures. I see it when I watch the games on TSN with the tens of thousands of empty seats. Why come to the games & pay high ticket, concessions & parking prices to go to a game when fans can watch on television? 

 

But the figures are showing tens of thousands of empty seats even back in the 80's?  The numbers don't lie.  

The only stadium that has tens of thousands of empty seats these days is in Toronto and I don't believe all Argos fans are simply watching TSN and not going to the games. 

29 minutes ago, Brandon said:

But the figures are showing tens of thousands of empty seats even back in the 80's?  The numbers don't lie.  

The only stadium that has tens of thousands of empty seats these days is in Toronto and I don't believe all Argos fans are simply watching TSN and not going to the games. 

Yes, this problem goes back 5 decades. But back then, the Big 3 were averaging 45,000 fans per game. Montreal used to average 60,000 fans per game at the Big Owe.. I can also remember watching games from Montreal in that cavernous stadium where 2-5,000 fans were in attendance & the team folded.

Today, tens of thousands of empty seats: Toronto, BC, Edmonton,. Calgary. Montreal loses 5 million dollars a year. Averaged 16,000 last year. They can't even fill a 25,000 seat stadium. Saskatchewan attendance down. No longer sells out. 

Living here in Calgary, I can assure you that no one cares about the Stampeders. I don't expect crowds any higher than 14,000 except for the LD game but it no longer sells out.  Why should fans here care when the owner Murray Edwards doesn't? Sadly, they don't. So far this winter the Stamps have been invisible. 

Edited March 28, 20232 yr by SpeedFlex27

18 hours ago, Jesse said:

The page you shared shows a peak in the mid-90’s as far as I can see.

Mid 90's has the highest attendance overall, but we also had a bunch of extra teams at that time in the US.....and Baltimore was killing it in attendance in an ex-NFL stadium. Really drove those numbers up.

8 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Yes, this problem goes back 5 decades. But back then, the Big 3 were averaging 45,000 fans per game. Montreal used to average 60,000 fans per game at the Big Owe.. I can also remember watching games from Montreal in that cavernous stadium where 2-5,000 fans were in attendance & the team folded.

Today, tens of thousands of empty seats: Toronto, BC, Edmonton,. Calgary. Montreal loses 5 million dollars a year. Averaged 16,000 last year. They can't even fill a 25,000 seat stadium. Saskatchewan attendance down. No longer sells out. 

Living here in Calgary, I can assure you that no one cares about the Stampeders. I don't expect crowds any higher than 14,000 except for the LD game but it no longer sells out.  Why should fans here care when the owner Murray Edwards doesn't? Sadly, they don't. So far this winter the Stamps have been invisible. 

5 decades ago most stadiums were papered with 5 dollar tickets you could buy at 7-11 or the gas station. It's how I saw most of my games when I was a teenager. It was fantastic for the young fan, but not a very good business plan as the league fell into a financial black hole soon afterwards.

Edited March 28, 20232 yr by GCn20

8 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Yes, this problem goes back 5 decades. But back then, the Big 3 were averaging 45,000 fans per game. Montreal used to average 60,000 fans per game at the Big Owe.. I can also remember watching games from Montreal in that cavernous stadium where 2-5,000 fans were in attendance & the team folded.

Today, tens of thousands of empty seats: Toronto, BC, Edmonton,. Calgary. Montreal loses 5 million dollars a year. Averaged 16,000 last year. They can't even fill a 25,000 seat stadium. Saskatchewan attendance down. No longer sells out. 

Living here in Calgary, I can assure you that no one cares about the Stampeders. I don't expect crowds any higher than 14,000 except for the LD game but it no longer sells out.  Why should fans here care when the owner Murray Edwards doesn't? Sadly, they don't. So far this winter the Stamps have been invisible. 

This right here is the point... the owners need to do a better job of marketing their teams.  The new owner in BC has the right attitude about it, and even called out Toronto's owners last year for not marketing their team.  The problem isn't with the ratio or the rules, it's with some of the teams doing a really poor job of marketing.

12 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

I don't need figures. I see it when I watch the games on TSN with the tens of thousands of empty seats. Why come to the games & pay high ticket, concessions & parking prices to go to a game when fans can watch on television? 

Then your claim is invalid.

The league needs better marketing. Winnipeg has done very well. BC with their new owner seems to get it and they appear to be trying new things to build attendance. Edmonton too. I was watching a doc on the Vancouver Grizzlies and they talk to one of the original Raptors owners. He mentions they purposely didn't try to be the Leafs and sought out newcomers, kids and women and marketed to them. CFL needs to have that mentality.

55 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

The league needs better marketing. Winnipeg has done very well. BC with their new owner seems to get it and they appear to be trying new things to build attendance. Edmonton too. I was watching a doc on the Vancouver Grizzlies and they talk to one of the original Raptors owners. He mentions they purposely didn't try to be the Leafs and sought out newcomers, kids and women and marketed to them. CFL needs to have that mentality.

Hamilton, under the Caretaker, also does a decent job, I think. Ottawa has been doing a good job since day 1. Sounds like the new guy in Montreal is going to be doing a lot. So it's Calgary and Toronto that really do next to nothing. SF27 is off his nut in a lot of posts lately, but he's right that the Stamps ownership group is just AWFUL at marketing the team, the population of Calgary doesn't give a **** about the Stamps, the stadium is garbage and is a bit of a pain to get to (tho at least there's the c-train). There's a lot of changes that need to be made to the Stamps to make them relevant again.